Labor seeks legal cover as terror chief Abdul Nacer Benbrika released from prison

Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who plotted attacks in two states, is free after 18 years, sparking a review of the decision amid Coalition claims Labor failed to keep the ‘worst of the worst’ in jail.

Abdul Nacer Benbrika leaves Barwon Prison on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Islamic terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who plotted attacks in two states, is free after 18 years, sparking an Albanese government review of the decision amid Coalition claims Labor failed to keep the “worst of the worst” in jail.

Benbrika, 63, left Victoria’s maximum-security Barwon Prison about 5.40pm on Tuesday after Victorian Supreme Court judge Elizabeth Hollingworth granted his release on an extended supervision order for 12 months.

He had spent nearly two decades in prison after being caught acting as the spiritual leader for two Melbourne-Sydney terror cells. Police believe the cells’ targets included the 2005 AFL grand final, Melbourne’s Crown casino in 2006 and Sydney’s Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.

He was released to live with his wife and four of his children, three of whom are over 18 and one who is 17. Benbrika has three other children and five grandchildren. He left prison in the back seat of a 4WD ute.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government would “carefully consider” the court’s written reasons with lawyers and security and law enforcement agencies before determining what, if any, further action to take.

“The stringent conditions imposed on Mr Benbrika under the extended supervision order are in addition to the existing powers available to security and law enforcement officers to protect the community,’’ he said.

The commonwealth applied for a three-year extended supervision order, claiming the law did not afford keeping Benbrika in jail any longer. Instead, he was given a one-year ESO but with onerous conditions designed to restrict movement and communication.

Acting Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the government should have applied for a preventative detention order to keep Benbrika locked up, also drawing on the recent immigration detention fiasco. “What we did was lock this individual up, what they did was let him out,’’ she said. “What we did with 150 hardened criminals was lock them up. What they did was let them out.”

Benbrika, an Algerian-born terror leader, was arrested in 2005 and ordered to serve 15 years’ jail after he was sentenced in 2009 for plotting attacks.

The ruling on Tuesday morning meant that the terrorist, who appeared before the court looking visibly aged with a long grey beard and dressed in a blue jumper, could be released after 3pm the same day. His sentence was extended in 2020 by three years under a continuing detention order sought by then home affairs minister Peter Dutton.

Justice Hollingworth ruled that the risk was “low enough” that Benbrika could be effectively managed in the community under an ESO that would be in place for 12 months. The court was told that one expert deemed Benbrika “moderate to low risk”.

Justice Hollingworth noted that Benbrika had made “good progress” with his participation in deradicalisation programs, adding the evidence did not suggest he would commit a so-called lone wolf terrorist act.

“Rather, the general nature of the risk posed by Mr Benbrika is that he would radicalise others or encourage them to engage in acts of religious-inspired violence,’’ she said.

Benbrika listened intently as the 30 conditions of his ESO were handed down, requiring him to wear an electronic monitoring device and abide by a curfew.

The court was told that there was “no dispute” that the commonwealth should pay for Benbrika’s mental health treatments and deradicalisation program.

Conditions of his release also include police checks, attendance in psychological treatments, a deradicalisation program and a ban on communicating or associating with people in jail, who have been convicted or charged under a variety of terrorist offences.

He was also barred from contacting people in various countries including the Middle East and ­Africa. There are also restrictions in place on his ability to engage in financial transactions, acquire weapons and use of vehicles.

He is unable to work, enrol in an educational institution or volunteer without the approval of the Australian Federal Police.

Benbrika will be required to use an AFP-issued phone and take all of the agency’s calls.

Justice Hollingworth also ­directed criticism at Mr Dreyfus for his failure to meet the court’s deadlines for the case.

“Throughout these two proceedings the Attorney-General has substantially failed to comply with the timetable for making disclosure and delivering court documents,” she said. “It seems many of those failures may have been contributed to by the inadequacy of the disclosure that has been made by the minister for home ­affairs (Mr Dutton) in the earlier proceedings”.

She also called out Mr Dutton for failing to disclose a key report by academic Emily Corner which was critical of a tool used to assess Benbrika’s risk of reoffending.

Ahead of Benbrika’s release, the commonwealth applied for an extended supervision order that would give police the power to monitor his movements, internet and communications usage, living arrangements and associations.

Terror expert Greg Barton said Benbrika would be carefully monitored under the community integration support program, which was designed to help terrorists reintegrate into the community.

Professor Barton, of Deakin University, said the evidence showed Benbrika was not a successful operative. “It was pretty clear he wasn’t charismatic or smart,’’ he told The Australian.

He said this didn’t mean that he should be underestimated because he had influence 20 years ago over young men.

The challenge of dealing with terror offending was complex. “We just don’t know what is going on in somebody’s head,’’ he said.

Benbrika was arrested as part of so-called Operation Pendennis, Australia’s longest-running terror investigation, which was a joint operation between Victoria Police, NSW Police, the AFP and ASIO. There were 13 arrests in Melbourne and nine in Sydney.

All nine Sydney terrorists were convicted and there were nine Melbourne convictions, with the Sydney cell considered the most organised. Benbrika was seen as the religious authority for the two terror cells, with the Melbourne operation funded in large part by car theft.

The Sydney cell was more sophisticated, with the group buying bomb-making chemicals and heavy calibre ammunition.

The plots were unearthed amid the rise of Islamic terrorism and in the wake of the September 11 ­attacks in the US.

Additional reporting: Tess McCracken